BENGALURU: When Prime Minister Narendra Modi places a silver brick marking the Bhoomi Puja of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya between 8 am and 12 noon on August 5, he will be going by the auspicious time and calendar set by Karnataka’s own NR Vijayendra Sharma of Belagavi.

The 75-year-old Pandit Sharma, who has been associated with the Ramjanma Bhoomi movement over the last many years, was approached by the organisers in February this year to set the date for the religiously significant event. He had picked Akshaya Tritiya, which fell in April this year, for the foundation-laying ceremony. But then the lockdown was announced because of the Covid pandemic and the event had to be put on hold.

“I gave four more dates of July 29, July 31, August 1 and August 5. All the four muhurtas are auspicious and fell in the Shravana Masa, which is an auspicious month in the Hindu calendar. August 5 is also apt for Vaastu Muhurta and ideal for Bhoomi Puja. The foundation has to be laid before 12 noon, after which Rahu Kala sets in,’’ Pandit Sharma told The New Indian Express. But he will not be able to attend the event because of Covid.

Pandit Sharma said that he has been a close aide of Swamy Govind Dev Giriji, who is one of the members of Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust.

He has been the go-to astrologer for many prominent politicians across the political spectrum. He has advised former PMs Morarji Desai and also Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

“In fact, based on Vajpayee’s birthday, I had suggested the date for him to take oath as PM,’’ N R Vijayendra Sharma recalled.

A scholar and gold medallist from Banaras Hindu University, Sharma knows eight languages. He spent his early days in Vijayapura, where his family shifted to from Paajaka near Udupi. He went to Varanasi for higher studies and became a disciple of scholar Gopalcharya Guruji, with whom he travelled across the country. “My guru is not here today, but whatever I have achieved is because of him,” he said.